Sunday, 2 December 2012

8．Attack of the B-kyus

2012 was the year I got more deeply acquainted with technical death metal. The seed was in a random purchase of Decrepit Birth's Polarity. After seeing the rad dreads and sandblasted face of singer, Bill Robinson singing over Morbid Angel lurching groove in the video for "The Resonance", I was sucked in. I did my research and got sucked in.

Somewhere in this top ten, I will feature the A-kyus, but for now at number eight I want to focus on the second stringers, the second line. Sure they are following up the rear in terms of fame and prestige but they all have potential, original voices and more than a smattering of dope tunes.

First is Fallujah. I have written about them before. I like that they adopt a blackened, Euro-Death, death-core and djent peppered jack of all trades vibe. There is perhaps little distinction between their compositions but if they can harness their talents in a more focused direction they could end up giant killers. Plus their Decrepit Birth-isms (melancholy harmonised leads) and Cynic-isms (reverberating jazz solos) are a fun listen.

Next is Over Your Threshold's Facticity. Daft name but slick rhythm section. Influences are showing through a bit still but once they find their own voice...

Here come the bastards, the much maligned Rings of Saturn. I love Dingir. It is artificial, scientific and a huge step forward from their last album. With focu they bring diversity. Now if only they can do a better job on production.

Which brings me to Abiotic's Symbiotic. Cool name, great concept, no focus. Too young, too much, too soon. Some great ideas, pity the internet has sped up time and flattened trenches.

Last of the killer B-kyus is End of All Reason. Again, like their peers they seem to have a problem with focus. A lot of pots on the boil here but what makes them a worthy inclusion is their bravery in traversing genres. From black metal, to death metal, power metal and tech somehow they just get it right. Again, a more explicit direction and help from a solid producer could turn these guys into A-kyus in a minute. There is talent there.